“More than 100 people were shot and 49 innocent people were killed in a nightclub. You know what a nightclub is, right? They were out dancing and having fun when a bad man with a gun came in and started shooting. It happened here in Orlando. Close to home. Near the SuperTarget with the escalators outside. I’m really sad. Everyone is really sad.”

I let them watch a little bit of the news coverage. But turned it off thinking, this is just TOO much for 8-year-olds to handle.

And I left it at that, hiding my own tears and sadness thinking I was protecting my children from a pain that would be incomprehensible.

You see, I’ve sheltered my kids from the big, bad world. I know they’re “young” for their age. I’ve been OK with that — I think we all want our children to be innocent for as long as they possibly can.

On Monday, I realized I’d not told them enough.

A friend posted on Facebook that she’d not told her second-grader about what happened. No judgment here. I never told my kids about Boston, Paris, etc.

But this one — so close to home — this one was different.

This one opened my eyes to my duty as a parent — the duty WE ALL have as parents.